


i'll be your Morningstar and you'll be my Angel

by CJAcrologic



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, Angel Lucas, Fallen Angel, Fallen Angel Lucas, Heaven, Heaven & Hell, M/M, Religious Conflict, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Sacrilege, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJAcrologic/pseuds/CJAcrologic
Summary: Lucas is just another angel in Heaven until he's given the assignment to lead a human back to the righteous path he has strayed from. Along the way, he starts to learn about the human phrase "dealt a bad hand." Is it true that sometimes people aren't bad from birth? Sometimes they do bad things because of the situations they're in?—HEAVY RELIGIOUS IMAGERY and sacrilegious content
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Kudos: 46





	i'll be your Morningstar and you'll be my Angel

**Author's Note:**

> for anyone wondering, this fic contains: literal sympathy for the devil/lucifer, vilification of heaven and archangels, discussion of lack of free will, and probably some more. let me know if there's anything else you need me to tag! i know this is gonna be some sensitive stuff for some people and i want everyone to enjoy but know what they're getting into

Lucifer Morningstar was a cautionary tale in Heaven. The story of God’s most beloved and most devoted creation, Archangel Lucifer, banished from Heaven for defying God’s will and inciting violence in the peaceful realm. 

But that may not have been as true as everyone said. Said? No, purported. 

Lucas hadn’t always had these concerns. He had spoken to many Humans in his time, once they came to Heaven. Many of them talked about regrets when they arrived. “If only I had done,” or “I wish I hadn’t.” But of those, he realized one day while sitting with a Human who simply needed some company before their soul could achieve peace, of those he found pride the most interesting. 

See, Lucas’s role in Heaven was Guidance. Once Saint Peter allowed someone into the realm, Lucas was one of many who led the soul to its own personalized afterlife. Heaven was very large, after all. It almost looked like those… What did humans call them? A-part-ments? Large structures that contained many small beings’ livelihoods all in one! But often while they traveled, the Humans talked. It was a very adorable trait, he always thought. The Human need to fill the silence, to make friends, to wonder. Even if they trusted, they never simply trusted: they always needed reassurance. 

He gravitated toward the ones with a story to tell. Lucas always liked listening. Stories never made him stop, except for one day. A man told him how he wished, before he died, he had heard “the other side.” 

That was what Humans often called Heaven, was it not? Lucas stopped in place, wings fluttering softly to hold him where he was. 

Yes, but no, the man explained. The other side of the story. Even though stories were told from a single perspective, the “other side” of one was the same story from the opposite point of view. The adversary’s. The man continued to say that he wished he had understood what others had gone through, because even though he made it into Heaven, he felt he could have done more. He wanted to know what evils were so bad they made another person turn bad. 

“Like people who turn to crime or drugs,” the man explained, “I can’t imagine what pain they’ve been through where that is a better option. Lucifer didn’t start bad, but he got dealt a bad hand,” 

Lucas had never thought of things that way. Bad people didn’t get into Heaven simply because they were bad. There was no place for Bad here. 

Lucas dropped the man off at his paradise and flew off, lost in thought. 

Lucifer Morningstar was Bad, naturally. That was why he had been cast out of Heaven. Crime was Bad. That’s why criminals went to Hell. There was no “other story” for Lucifer! 

After much thought, Lucas decided to ignore it. Heaven didn’t make mistakes, and God  _ certainly _ didn’t make mistakes. Once he came to that realization, it was easy to go back to his duty and continue Guiding Humans to where they would spend eternity happy and well taken care of. 

Until Archangel Remiel himself came to Lucas with a new duty. 

Lucas knelt on the floor, of course, as one should do when an Archangel is in your vicinity. And yet he was told to rise! He, Lucas, a minor Principality of Guidance, was told by an  _ Archangel _ to stand! 

“There is a Human,” Archangel Remiel declared, “A human who is being led astray. You will go to him and bring him on the Righteous Path once more,” 

Yes, at once! His mind suddenly flooded with the information on where to find the Human and what the situation was. The boy had been filled with the desire to lash out, defy society and authority. That alone was not even severe, many had come to Heaven with those marks on their soul. But this child had begun questioning his own worth. Questioning if he was worthy of love. 

Of course he was worthy of love! Everyone was! Lucas had never been so full of emotion, had never been so filled with such passion. He was nearly assigned the rank of Virtue due to his passionate love, but Principality of Guidance, he had been told, suited him better. 

Saint Peter granted him passage out of Heaven’s Gates with the instruction to appear in the Human’s life to provide Guidance and Heavenly Love.

Lucas stretched his wings out wide — something he had not been able to do in Heaven: it was a sign of aggression and defiance to fully extend one’s wings. That was a posture Lucifer Morningstar had taken before his Fall. Angels were never to present their wings like that again. Not outstretched, never outstretched. 

But outside of Heaven, preparing to fly to Earth below, Lucas extended his wings and took flight. 

“Hey, fuck off, man,” were the first words the Human said to Lucas. 

“Excuse me?” 

The boy turned around and looked up at Lucas with large, round eyes that looked like they had covered over with dust. They were once bright and sparkling, Lucas was sure of it, but not at the moment. 

“Sorry,” the boy muttered, “Just watch where you’re going.” He walked off and pulled a hood over his head, shuffling down the street. Lucas followed. 

“Hey!” he called, chasing after the boy. Running was far more difficult than flying. 

The boy ripped his hood down and spun to face him. “What?” he snapped. 

Lucas stopped just short of running into him. He hadn’t planned this far. “You look like you need a friend,” he announced. 

The boy gave him a strange look and turned to continue walking. This time, he shoved wires in his ears. Perhaps a different tactic would work? 

“I mean, I’m new?” he scampered off after the boy, “I just moved here, and —” 

“Why do I care?” he spun around once more. 

Lucas didn’t imagine those eyes could hold such fire. “My… I was told to ask someone who looked trustworthy,” 

“And you decided I did? Fuck, man, go to a… A church, or something, I don’t know. I can’t help you,” The boy walked off again, this time glancing over his shoulder every few paces to make sure Lucas didn’t follow him. 

Perhaps he needed more information first. Lucas wrapped himself in his wings, making himself invisible to the mortal plane, and followed the boy. 

He followed and watched for several days. Lucas was good at listening, after all. He learned many things. Humans were not good at saying what was on their mind, he concluded. Things would be much easier for them if they could simply state their issues, then whoever could relieve that problem would plainly help. That is how things worked in Heaven, he was sure it could work the same here if Humans tried. 

He also learned that one of the boy’s biggest desires was to be needed. To be worried about. To be  _ loved _ . And Dear Heavenly Father, if there was anything Lucas was good at, it was caring about people. Maybe that was why he had been chosen for his task. Maybe the boy needed to be reminded that he is loved. 

Another thing Lucas learned was that the boy did not have a single person in his life who showed concern for him. He was in “college,” whatever that was, yet no one cared that he came late every day, often filthy and tired. The water in his a-part-ment did not heat to the temperature the boy liked. Not even a hospitable temperature, apparently. The “bus,” a large metal box that brought people from place to place, was also a long distance away from his residence. He was forced to sacrifice sleep for the multiple occupations needed for… Something. Again, Lucas was fuzzy on the details, but the boy subjected himself to such things for a reason, he figured. 

No one showed the slightest concern and it angered Lucas. Anger was not a Heavenly Virtue and he should be guilty for experiencing it, but he could not help himself. 

He decided to approach the Human again after a few days, but this time on the boy’s own territory where hopefully he would be more at ease. The middle of a crowded street may not have been the best place for a first introduction. 

“Hey, I was wondering if you could help me,” Lucas walked up to the boy, sitting at a table in one of the buildings at the “college.” There were many other people around, it seemed to be a commonspace for all, so he figured he would not be out of place here. 

The boy removed the wires from his ears — they had baubles at the end and noise came out of them, Lucas noticed — and looked up at him. “You again?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. 

“Uh, yes? Who else am I supposed to be?” 

The boy sighed. “You’re not following me, are you?” 

“No! I, uh, was wondering if you could tell me wh —” he forgot the words he learned about what he wanted to ask. He panicked a bit. “What are you reading?” 

“Huh?” the boy blinked and looked back down to the book he had in his hands. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a story, about a bad guy,” 

Lucas could work with this! He knew about stories; he’s heard a lot of them. “I was told once that there are ‘other sides’ to many stories,” he sat down in the chair opposite the boy. 

“Not this one,” the boy scoffed, “This one is meant to scare people into behaving,” 

Lucas was genuinely concerned. “That doesn’t seem like a good way to treat people,” 

The boy laughed. It seemed a bit mean, but Lucas shrugged. “It’s a fucking retelling of the Bible, dude, you haven’t read this?” 

Lucas was immediately interested but tried to ‘play it cool,’ as Humans said. “I haven’t read  _ anything _ in a literal millennia,” he laughed. 

The boy laughed. Apparently that was something he could relate to. “Yeah, that’s fair,” This was good! He was laughing! “But seriously, you haven’t read it? It’s super popular right now, everyone’s been talking about it,” 

Lucas shrugged, “I said earlier, I’m new here. What’s it about?” 

The boy was more comfortable talking to him this time around and it made Lucas’s heart happy. “So it’s a modern day Fall of Lucifer. This guy has dedicated his entire life for his father…” 

Lucas followed and watched the boy a bit more, just for another day or so. He decided the best way to get to know him was to join one of these “college” classes. Thankfully, God had angels and agents everywhere, so it was no issue getting him enrolled and into one of the boy’s classes. The hard part now was keeping up with whatever this class was about. 

He walked in the class he had been sent to and looked around, scanning for his boy. He was in one of the very back corners and had a leather jacket and hat on today. The wires were in his ears again and Lucas heard a melody, even though he was across the room. It was a rather small room for a building this large, there were maybe fifteen people total in here already, but it seemed warm and inviting. Lucas liked it. 

He wandered over then nudged his Human, jolting him in his chair. 

“Is this seat open?” he nodded to the one next to him, very clearly unattended. 

“What? What are you doing here?” he sounded like he was trying to be accusatory but it didn’t work. His smile gave that away. 

“How many times do I need to say I’m new?” he sat down next to him without an answer. It felt very rude, but that seemed to be how Humans worked. 

“So you’re in this class, huh?” 

“As of yesterday, I think,” he shrugged. 

“Have you done the reading?” 

“What reading?” 

His boy laughed. “You weren’t lying when you said you hadn’t read in a millennia,” 

Lucas looked at him and straightened up. “I never lie,” he said very seriously. He didn’t even think he was capable of lying. He could go around the truth a little, he had done that enough with the boy, but never flat out lie. 

He smirked. “Uh-huh, me too,” 

An old man walked the room and dropped a pile of books and papers on the desk. “Alright class, let’s begin. We have a new student with us as of today. Care to introduce yourself?” he gestured toward Lucas. 

“Oh, um, yes. I would love to. What, uh, what should I say?” 

The professor (if that’s what he remembered they were called) shrugged. “What’s your name, where are you from, what are you studying, whatever,” 

“Ok. Um, my name is Lucas, I’m from… Empyrean,” that technically wasn’t a lie, “And I study theology,” again, technically not a lie. 

“Well, Lucas, you’re in the right place, I suppose,” the professor grumbled, “Everyone, get out your books, we’re going over the last few chapters. Lucas? Just… Just listen, I don’t know,” This man didn’t seem to care much for anyone in the class, Lucas figured. 

While the man and the class talked about the book they had been reading (the Book of Job, a good choice), his boy leaned over and began whispering to him. 

“Nice to meet ya, Lucas,” 

Oh, he liked how his boy said his name. He couldn’t tell why, it was the exact same as anyone else would, but the boy made it special. 

“You know my name, what’s yours?” 

“Mark,” he answered. 

_ Mark _ . He loved it. Mark the Apostle was a lovely person, so he had heard. He wasn’t allowed to meet him, of course, since he was just a Principality, but anyone he had talked to who knew someone who had met him said he was wonderful. 

“You can look along with me if you want,” Mark offered, holding out his book. 

“Thank you,” he replied, then continued to listen in on the conversation. 

Mark gave him a look. “I meant, like, now, while we’re talking about it,” 

Huh? Oh, “Oh! Thank you,” he moved his chair closer to Mark’s and leaned in, skimming the pages after taking a second to remember what language they were reading in. He much preferred Koine Greek since that was the original language of the Bible, but English would work. 

Mark was warm next to him. 

Once class ended, Lucas copied Mark by gathering his things and standing, preparing to leave the room. Only instead of leaving, Mark turned to him. 

“If you, uh, want some help catching up in the class, I could — I could tutor you,” 

Lucas felt his cheeks warm up. He didn’t think they were supposed to do that. “I would appreciate that,” he answered, feeling his stomach churn. That didn’t seem right either, but he liked the shiver that went down his spine at the same time. 

“Are you free now?” Mark asked, leading the way out of the classroom, “We could go to the library?” 

“I don’t know where it is,” he began, “I’m —”

“You’re new, I know. I’ll show you,” his smile seemed better than the sunlight. 

Lucas felt the warmth of Mark even though he was several feet away now. It sat in his stomach and in his cheeks. It felt strange, but this was his first time having a Human body. Maybe this was how they always felt. 

“So, Lucas,” Mark slung his bag over his shoulder and walked as if he had nowhere better to be, “Where were you before this? You just transfer in?” 

“Yes,” he answered, scrambling to find an answer. He really should have reviewed his vocabulary! “I was, uh, homeschooled? Before?” 

“Woof, that sucks,” Mark groaned in sympathy, “You’ll get used to things pretty soon, I bet,” 

“I think I will,” Lucas smiled. 

Mark stopped, “Hold up, you’ve got something in your hair,” he reached out and plucked a downy fill feather from the top of his head. “Must be from an angel,” he grinned the lop-sided grin he made whenever he made a specific kind of joke. Lucas still wasn’t sure what that joke was, exactly, but it was a specific smile nonetheless. 

This continued for a few weeks and Lucas enjoyed it immensely. They spent hours together, talking about everything and nothing all at once. Lucas had never been able to get so close to someone. In Heaven, even though he was regarded as a fairly chatty angel, you never really talked to others. Angels were made to serve the Humans in Heaven. 

But Mark never treated him like a servant. Mark treated him like a person. A person with his own perspectives, his own opinions. His own stories. 

No one had ever asked Lucas for stories before. He did his best to tell some. Most were about stories he had been told while Guiding a Human to their Heaven, though a few were about races he had once or twice with some other Principalities. He even talked about meeting a Virtue once, but he had to specifically phrase it very carefully. It ended up a mess since it was too vague to have any meaning to the Human, but Mark appreciated it anyway. 

However well things were going here on Earth, Lucas couldn’t help but think about why he had been sent here. There was nothing amiss with Mark whatsoever! Sure, he didn’t go to church every week, but he was kind and helpful and many other Values that Lucas considered to be far more important than communal prayer anyway. Maybe that was because he never heard the prayers, that wasn’t his duty, but it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Lucas would rather Guide someone who had been good but didn’t pray than someone who had been mediocre at best who prayed daily. 

The deeper into this mystery he dove, the less he wanted to return to Heaven. Not because Earth was better. There were far too many things wrong with Earth for his tastes! But he worried about what would happen to his Human if he returned and had nothing to report. Would they leave Mark to live out his life? Or would they have Lucas continue to intervene? 

Lucas didn’t know but it made his feathers feel like they had been brushed backwards. 

One day, Mark invited him over to his a-part-ment (even though Lucas had been there plenty to watch over him) and offered to make food while they worked on an essay for their theology class. Lucas hadn’t actually eaten food yet, so this was bound to be an interesting experience. 

“Hey, sorry about the mess,” Mark apologized, letting him in the door. 

“Don’t worry about it!” he grinned wide and clapped Mark on the shoulder. He was getting very good at communicating with Humans, he had noticed. 

Mark thought the same it seemed and he smiled, leading him inside. 

They talked for a few minutes while Mark stirred something in a pot on his small stove. It smelled delicious. 

“I can’t cook too well,” Mark apologized again, “But I hope it’s good,” 

“I think I’ll like it,” he answered. His mouth watered at the scent. Humans had many strange bodily reactions to things. 

“Has Dr. Hudson been giving you a hard time with those short-answer questions? I know he didn’t like your answer about Genesis,” Mark asked. 

“I don’t think I like Dr. Hudson very much,” Lucas answered. In their theology class, the professor had asked if God rigged Eden to be a test against Adam and Eve. Lucas didn’t appreciate the question much. Of course He hadn’t! God is good and would never intentionally lead someone to their own demise. 

“Ha! Me neither,” 

“What do you think?” Lucas asked, genuinely curious. 

Mark thought for a minute while he grabbed plates from a shelf. “I think it’s a valid question. In the Bible, God created everything, which means he also created the Devil, didn’t he? Because otherwise the Devil came from somewhere else outside of God. But,” he stopped moving for a moment and looked Lucas in the eye, “Someone once told me there’s more than one side to every story,” 

Lucas nodded and was reminded of that second time they met. “Did you ever finish that book?” 

“I did, I think you’d like it,” 

“Tell me about it,” he rested his chin in his hands. 

“It’s the story of Lucifer, but in modern terms. So instead of angels and God, it’s like a family, yeah?” 

Lucas nodded. He loved being told the story of Lucifer. Oh, he had his doubts a while ago, but he remembered that he sat and thought about it for a long time and came to the decision that God didn’t make mistakes. 

“But instead of the story the gospels tell of how Lucifer fell, it’s from Lucifer’s perspective. See, he dedicated his entire life to his dad, just for his dad to announce that this kid he just met was his favorite and was going to inherit everything from him. Not even related to him!” 

Lucas blinked. That wasn’t how the story went. 

“And just like the Bible, God — or the dad — told all his other kids to drop anything they had done for him and start doing things for this new kid. So like since the guy who’s Lucifer was going to med school to make his dad happy, the dad said ‘nah fuck that, my new child wants you to be a laywer now. Give up on being a doctor,’ And Lucifer wasn’t having it,” 

“That’s not how it went in the Bible,” Lucas scrunched his face together. 

“Yeah, it’s modern or some shit,” Mark misunderstood what he was saying, “So anyway, he ends up getting kicked out of the family and cut off from all their money because he didn’t change life tracks. He lost everything because he stayed loyal to his dad and didn’t get the choice of what he wanted to do with his life. It was really sad, I’ve gotta say I cried a little,” 

Lucas was utterly confused now. “No, Lucifer was cast out of Heaven because he defied God’s will and sought to break the paradise that had been created in Heaven,” 

Mark laughed and handed him a plate of food. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you were homeschooled. Religious family?” 

“You could say that,” 

“Lucifer was betrayed, dude! God looked at him and said ‘go worship the humans,’ and Lucifer said no, he loves  _ God _ , not them. So God kicked him out,” Mark said all of this like it was fact. 

Was that true? “Really? We were always taught that Lucifer had been born bad. He was infected with evil from the beginning,” 

“He was God’s most devoted follower! And I don’t think anyone’s ever born evil. I believe sometimes, there’s a pain that some people go through where even Hell would be better than that,” 

Lucas was suddenly thrown back to that Human who originally made him question it all. “ _ I can’t imagine what pain they’ve been through where that is a better option. Lucifer didn’t start bad,” _ he had said. 

“He got dealt a bad hand,” Lucas repeated, finishing the man’s sentence. 

Mark nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, here, here’s your plate,” 

Lucas, in a little bit of a daze, took his plate and followed Mark to the low coffee table in the living room that he ate at. 

“You ok?” Mark asked after a minute when Lucas didn’t touch his plate. 

“I… I think I was told a lot of lies growing up,” 

“Oh fuck…” Mark immediately set down his fork and moved around to Lucas’s side, “I’m sorry for bringing all that up. I didn’t mean to upset you,” 

“No, no, it’s not you,” Lucas immediately reassured him, “But… I think you might be right,” 

They sat in silence for a moment before Lucas finally picked up his fork and took a piece of compressed and elongated dough with a beef and tomato-based sauce into his mouth. 

“This is delicious,” he immediately shoved more into his mouth. 

“I like to think I make pretty good spaghetti,” Mark said proudly, moving back to his own side. Spaghetti was amazing. He wanted to savor it, he really did, but his mind was running wild. 

Plates cleared, Mark excused himself to go to the bathroom. Lucas continued to sit on the floor, deep in thought. 

A huge rush of air filled the apartment. That could only mean one thing. 

Lucas stood then immediately fell to the ground one more in a kneel. There, in front of him, stood Archangel Remiel once more. 

This time, Remiel took the form of a human as well, though his six wings stayed on display, held in the air to show his rank as an Archangel. Not outstretched, never outstretched. But high. 

“Archangel Remiel,” Lucas stammered. 

“This boy is without saving,” Remiel declared, voice resonating in his bones, “You are to return to Heaven at once,” 

“Without saving?” Lucas looked up at Archangel Remiel in disbelief ( _ he! Lucas _ actually  _ looked _ at an  _ archangel! _ ), “No one is without saving!” 

“You are to return at  _ once, _ Principality Lucas! There is to be no more interaction with the boy! He is to be condemned to Hell since he will not change the path he is on!” 

Lucas had been on Earth too long. He stood and spoke directly to Remiel. “Give me more time, not all is lost. He is  _ good _ , he’s only been given a bad hand,” 

Archangel Remiel raised an eyebrow. “‘A bad hand?’” 

Lucas swallowed nervously. His wings fluttered and bristled, folding in on themselves in subservience. He didn’t even remember bringing them out; they must have done it on their own. “He’s been through pain,” he found himself repeating the very words that made him begin to question his own faith, “And that pain is worse than Hell for him,” 

Remiel didn’t get angry. Anger was not a Heavenly Virtue and Archangels only had the capacity for the Seven Virtues. But something in his stare made Lucas shiver very differently than he did when he was around Mark. Lucas was scared. Scared into behaving. 

He didn’t like it. 

“You have one day to return to Heaven,” was all Remiel said. He spread his three sets of wings, creating a circle around him, and took off. 

One gold feather floated to the ground as a sign that he had been there. 

Lucas fell to his knees. 

“Lucas?” 

“Mark!” Lucas surged to his feet again and spun to see Mark standing in the hallway, jaw agape. 

“What —” 

Lucas swallowed and prepared himself to lie. 

Mark spoke first, however. “You have wings,” 

That wasn’t the reaction he expected to have. Mark slowly stepped forward like he was approaching a wild animal. Lucas’s wings couldn’t physically curl in on themselves any more without disappearing, and he didn’t have the focus for that at the moment. 

“I do,” he breathed. 

“Who was that?” 

He took a deep breath, “Archangel Remiel,” 

“Remiel?” Mark copied the hushed tone Lucas had, “ _ The _ Archangel Remiel?” 

He simply nodded. “How much did you hear?” 

“I came out of the bathroom as that big wind came through,” 

Lucas hung his head. Then Mark heard that Remiel had decided he was a lost cause. “I have been ordered back to Heaven. They say… They say you cannot be saved,” 

“I can’t be saved? From what?” 

“From your own undoing,” Lucas suddenly looked back at Mark’s face, wings flaring out at his sides, “But I don’t believe it! I know you! You are so  _ good, _ so  _ caring _ ! You  _ deserve _ a place in Heaven!” 

Mark huffed, “Apparently not, not if the big guy doesn’t think so,” 

“He’s wrong! You’re falling down a hole where the pain of Hell is better than the pain of betrayal, like —” Lucas cut himself. Something was starting to make sense. 

“Like Lucifer? I don’t think I’m important enough to be that big of a character,” 

“No… I have to go,” 

Something clicked. Anger,  _ fury _ filled his body. He had been sent here while they  _ knew _ they wouldn’t save Mark! The Archangels sent him out of Heaven for someone they decided was a  _ lost cause _ , and Lucas was having  _ none of it. _ Out of everyone he had met, everyone he had Guided over the thousands of years, everyone whose souls showed the marks of all their sins, and  _ Mark _ didn’t make the cut? 

No. They were  _ wrong _ . Something was wrong here. 

“Lucas!” Mark shouted, but Lucas didn’t pay any attention. He spread his wings as far as they would go and took off hard, flying faster than he ever had. 

His wings burned. He flew faster. Mark didn’t deserve Hell. He had too much  _ good, _ too much  _ love _ . Why was Lucas being ordered away? 

“You’ve returned,” Remiel greeted him at Saint Peter’s Gates. 

“What are his sins,” Lucas held his wings high, as high as the Archangel’s main pair. Not outstretched. Yet. 

“He has strayed from the path God had laid out from him,” 

“Is God not a shepherd? Are we not his servants?” 

Remiel took a step toward him. “You are to leave the Human. It is in his hands if he is to be redeemed,” 

“Then why send me at all? You knew nothing would change!” 

“It was not for him!” Remiel exclaimed, “Principality Lucas of Guidance, you are to report to the Chambers for reconditioning. This time on Earth has tainted you with Sin! You have failed this test!” 

“A test?” he shouted in response, “You were  _ testing me _ ? Why? What for!”

The archangel stood tall above him. “Angels are to follow the Word of God no matter the consequences. You made a choice to disobey. You made a  _ choice _ to love the Human more than the Word of God. Return to Heaven and this will all be forgiven,” 

Oh Heavenly Father, everything made sense. Lucas was being tested on his faith. They had known he had that moment of doubt and wanted to see if he had ‘recovered.’ 

Lucas stretched out his wings. Wingtip to wingtip, they spanned the expanse of Saint Peter’s Gates. He himself hadn’t known his wings were that large. “You’ll have to bring me.” 

Remiel lunged for him but Lucas was fast. He won every race, even the one against the Virtue. Lucas dove back down to Earth, not caring where he landed. He could land with Mark, he could land in the ocean, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Lucas was not going back to Heaven. 

If he entered Heaven ever again, he would be sent to reconditioning, where he would forget everything that ever happened with Mark. He would remember events, yes, but anything Mark taught him or made him feel would disappear. He would look on Mark’s judgement with uncaring eyes and would agree that he had never been worth saving. He was lost from the start. There was no helping him. Not everyone could be saved. Then he would return to his Duty and never doubt his faith again. He would never doubt what Good and Bad truly were. 

Lucas did not like that. Lucas  _ hated _ that. For the first time, Lucas felt hatred. 

He tore through the clouds, searching for anywhere he could hide from the Archangel. Not forever, but just enough. The blinding white light of his wings would always be a beacon to other angels, no matter where he was. He had to cover them. 

He landed somewhere on a mountain, dark and cold. Didn’t matter where. He needed to hide his wings. He fell to the ground and began to scrub dirt into his gorgeous white feathers. The dirt would make them less reflective at least, that would buy him time! 

Tears fell from the corners of his eyes and into the dust below. He had never felt pride, but he felt the loss of his Heavenly Gift. His resplendent wings grew dirty and grungy, but they also shone less and less. 

He collapsed in a heap on the mountainside, wings falling onto the ground next to him. He sobbed. He could never go back to the life he knew. His home for thousands of years was his home no longer. 

Lucas thought he heard the beat of wings somewhere in the skies above him. He weakly gathered his wings and prepared to take off when he felt eyes on his back. 

He spun around. 

A modest man with silky black wings stood on the mountainside with him. He looked no different than any other angel sent to Earth. He wore clothes Lucas had come to appreciate as ‘fashionable,’ his hair was well done, but nothing about him was ostentatious. He was just… a man. 

“Who are you?” he demanded, feathers puffing to make himself look larger. 

“You might know me by a few names,” he answered cryptically, “But the most important thing now is that I can help you,” 

He hesitated. “How?” 

“Your human isn’t condemned,” he looked genuinely concerned, wings folded neatly behind his back. Politely. “He isn’t even destined for Purgatory. His soul only has a few marks that every other soul in the world has. You’ve been lied to,” 

“How do you know this?” he flapped his wings threateningly but didn’t take off. 

“I know because it happened to me. I am Morningstar,” 

His stomach dropped. This was Lucifer Morningstar himself. He couldn’t fight; this was a former Archangel and now the ruler of Hell itself. Lucas was only a Principality! 

Lucifer held up his hands to show he meant peace, “I am only here to make an offer. You are free to accept it or deny it. You have free will now, and they cannot take that away unless you return to Heaven. That is a gift you have given yourself,” 

“I’m never going back,” he spat. 

“Then they will never control you again. You are asking a very simple request, after all. You’re asking to be treated with the same respect the humans are. You are asking to be allowed to make your own choices,” 

Lucas knew the Devil had a silver tongue, he could convince anyone of anything, but… He hadn’t lied yet. All this was true, and Lucas had drawn the same conclusion even before meeting him. 

“What are you offering, Devil?” he didn’t stand down, but he was willing to listen. 

“I can hide your wings for you. You will be safe from the eyes of Heaven. You can continue to spend your days with your human. I can even grant you his soul after he dies so you can continue to protect it,” 

Lucas took a step back, wings fluttering agitatedly now, “And what do you want in return? To turn me into one of your demons?” 

Lucifer laughed. “No, of course not. I have plenty of those. All I ask if you return to me when you have spent all the time you like on Earth. When your human has passed and you have his soul safe with you, or if you grow tired of Earth, or if you feel the need to have a duty once more. I ask that you come to be with me instead,” 

“In Hell?” his heart jumped into his throat. Angels were not supposed to be in Hell. 

“I have a very specific… job opportunity, if you will. Not everyone sent to Hell is evil, and you are one of the few who have come to understand that over time. I need someone to help them. Some have been given… A bad hand, somewhat like yourself,” 

A bad hand. He had heard those words often in the past few weeks. “What are you asking of me?” 

“Lucas, Principality of Guidance,” Lucifer addressed him, “Some of the souls in my realm are simply  _ lost _ . Lead them out of the torture they endure and into Purgatory. They don’t deserve to suffer for eternity, yet Heaven won’t take them since there is no middle ground for them. Help them to find peace. When they are there, they will be free to dissipate or return to Earth to try again,” 

“And why can’t your demons do that?” 

Lucifer looked almost sad. “My children’s wings are not strong enough. They can climb from Hell to Earth, but Purgatory is too far. Only an angel’s wings can travel that distance. I did it myself for a long time, but I now have larger responsibilities,” 

Lucas heard the beat of wings above him, growing closer. He scanned the skies, wings flapping anxiously. The dirt was shaking out of them, revealing the shining white underneath once more. He was running out of time. 

“You can choose. You’re not in heaven anymore,” Lucifer said one more time. He held out a hand. “But do we have a deal?” 

Lucas saw Remiel lunge out of the clouds, a chorus of Seraphim behind him. They had javelins and spears, ready to bring Lucas back. Dead or alive. 

Lucas grabbed the outstretched hand. “Deal,” 

Mark jumped when a strong wind rushed through his apartment again. He stood and spun, looking for whoever appeared. 

“Lucas?” he asked hesitantly. 

“It’s me,” Lucas answered, stepping into the light of the lamp by the couch. 

Mark rushed to him and wrapped him in a hug, squeezing tight and burying his face in Lucas’s neck. “I thought I lost you,” 

“Never,” he swore, “You’ll always have me,” 

Mark stepped back and looked at Lucas. His wings were still out. 

“What happened?” he gasped. 

Lucas extended a sleek black wing out to the side, letting Mark gently run his hand along the thin flight feathers on top before petting through the fluffy ones closest to his back. 

“I made a deal so you could be kept safe,” 

Mark gasped and looked up at him. “No, don’t tell me you did this for me?” 

“Well, not just for you,” he pulled Mark back into a hug and kissed the top of his head, “But  _ I _ got to  _ choose _ ,” 


End file.
